


The Two Times Merlin Failed To Prank Arthur (And The One Time Arthur Did)

by LytynUponCerellia



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Oblivious Merlin, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 22:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8818426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LytynUponCerellia/pseuds/LytynUponCerellia
Summary: Merlin is terrible at pranks. Arthur just takes it all in stride.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, needed to write some fluff after my last (incredibly angsty) Merlin fic.  
> Thank you for reading!  
> -M

Two times Merlin failed to prank Arthur.

Two times he was humiliated, either physically, mentally, or both.

It wasn't his fault. Well, alright. Not _really_ his fault.

And besides, it was only to get back at his royal pratness because of how he was responsible for Merlin's hair being dyed orange for two weeks ("I swear, my hand slipped! I didn't know the coloring was going to get in your shampoo bottle!"). He had been stuck being ginger for half a month. HALF a month.

It wasn't the first time, either. Oh, no. Arthur had dropped spiders on his head during Halloween, which had nearly given Merlin a heart attack. And they hadn't been all fake spiders either. His dollophead of a boyfriend clearly did not understand the meaning of "Taking the prank too far" and had collected not one, but TWO LIVE TARANTULAS from God-knew-where ("I thought they were cool!").

And so on and so on, from getting doused with buckets in the morning hanging over doorways, to getting shell-shocked by airhorns being blown straight in his ear. Merlin considered it a miracle in itself that he had not already admitted himself to a mental hospital.

If he didn't love Arthur as much as he (regrettably) did, then he would have probably followed through with strangling him long ago.

But now was the time for vengeance. The balance would be restored to nature.

Merlin was going to get him good.

* * *

 

On Tuesday night, Merlin could barely contain his glee. He had gone out earlier and had purchased two large bottles of hot sauce. Now all he had to do was to place the bait. It was so easy. Arthur was an absolute wreck in the kitchen, so it was Merlin who did most of the cooking for the both of them when at home.

Merlin chuckled viciously to himself as he got their meal ready. Then, when ladling out stew onto each plate, he added a generous helping of hot sauce to the plate he planned to give to Arthur, mixing the sauce in.

Arthur was already sitting at the table, lounging back in his chair. He looked so casually unaware, Merlin had to supress his giggles by covering his mouth with the back of his hand before setting down the plates.

"Ah, stew!" Arthur chuckled. "Nice, Merlin."

"You're welcome," Merlin smiled sweetly, sitting down opposite him. "It's extra special, just for you."

Arthur looked actually quite touched, and for a second, Merlin felt guilty. But then he remembered how humiliating walking around wearing a beanie in the summer to cover his ginger hair was, and immediately felt less concerned.

There was a sudden clatter, as Arthur dropped his knife on the floor. "Oh! Hey, could you get that? I think it's by your foot."

Merlin ducked down to grab the piece of cutlery, and when he looked up, Arthur had already started to eat.

Merlin waited in eager anticipation as he raised the first forkful up to his mouth--and swallowed it down whole, grinning in satisfaction. "This is rather good, Merlin. I daresay you've outdone yourself tonight."

Merlin gaped at him. How on Earth could nothing have happened?

He had made sure to put enough hot sauce to make a grown man cry, let alone eat like nothing was remotely different!

"Something wrong?" He tilted his head. Merlin thought he caught a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, but just for a moment.

He shook his head, and began to eat in a huff. Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no.

HOT!

Merlin felt his eyes water upon swallowing. His entire mouth was burning. It was as if his very taste buds had been set aflame. Honestly, he wouldn't have been surprised if he started breathing fire like a dragon.

He got up, and sprinted to the kitchen, chugging down four, no, five glasses of ice-water, panting profusely when the burning sensation had finally ceased.

Arthur continued to eat cheerily as if nothing strange had occurred.

 

Thus, Merlin had been foiled once.

* * *

 

The next prank was a little trickier, a little more elaborate. It had taken a considerably longer time to set up, but he was feeling pretty satisfied with himself by the time he had finished.

He laughed evilly to himself as he ran the prank over in his mind.

There was a nerf gun rigged in Arthur’s wardrobe cabinet. It was set so that whenever someone opened the cabinet, it would open fire at least 3 to 5 rounds of foam darts at whoever had opened it in the first place.

It was going to be hilarious.

Now all he had to do was wait for Arthur to get dressed.

His lazy boyfriend was still lying around in bed, adamantly refusing to get up.

“Arthur.” He nudged him gently. “Hey, get up.”

“Nhhh.” Arthur groaned, rolling over onto his stomach away from Merlin.

“Come on. You need to get dressed.” Merlin forced himself not to laugh. “Come on, you...lazy daisy.”

“Did you just call me ‘ _lazy daisy_ ’?” came an indignant grumble from Arthur.

“Yes, I did.” said Merlin unashamedly. “And I would do it again in a heartbeat if you don’t get out of bed.”

“But...comfortable--”

“Don’t want to hear it. Up!” He hopped onto the bed beside the comatose man, and began bouncing, forcing the bed to shake.

“Merlin-- _nooo_ …” Arthur moaned, as if Merlin were trying to kill him with his incessant jumping.

In the end, Merlin had to hook his arms underneath Arthur’s and yank him out of bed, bed-covers and all.

Arthur was not amused.

 

Soon, he was just about finished dressing, and Merlin once again waited in eager anticipation when he saw Arthur sleepily approaching the cabinet.

Just about a second before he opened the door, to Merlin’s chagrin, he stopped suddenly.

“Hmm. How long has it been since we saw Gwen?”

Merlin was caught off-guard by the question. “About a week, maybe. Why?”

Just open the door, he prayed. _Open the door and suffer my wrath._

Arthur shrugged, one hand still on the cabinet door. “I just wondered how she and Lance were getting on. They’ve been engaged for a while now, haven’t they?”

“Yes, they have.” Merlin mumbled. This was not how he thought it was going to go. “Are you going to get dressed?”

“Indeed…” Arthur leaned against the door, looking lost in thought.

Merlin held his breath as he finally pulled the cabinet door open.

Arthur pulled out a belt and closed the door behind him.

Nothing. No barrage of Nerf darts, no startling automatic ambush of any sort.

“And I heard Elyan found himself a girl too!” Arthur continued, walking over to his pile of clothes.

Merlin gaped. What was it now? How had that not had worked? It hadn’t been foolproof in any case, but still, _something_ should have happened!

He marched over while Arthur’s back was turned and flung open the door.

“Why did noth-- _Ah_!” He released an undignified yelp as a torrent of miniature foam missiles flew at him in all directions.

He flung himself to the ground, shielding his face with his arms as the attack continued.

Naturally, Arthur had already left the room and hadn't noticed a thing.

 

Thus, Merlin had been foiled once again.

* * *

 

By the next evening, Merlin was rather frustrated by his failures, and did not hear when Arthur asked him something at dinner.

“Merlin!” Arthur snapped his fingers in front of his face, causing him to jerk backwards.

“What?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I just wanted to know what you thought of Gwaine’s engagement.”

Merlin shrugged, still trying to come up with ideas on how to prank Arthur without messing up.

Perhaps he should put dye in _his_ shampoo bottle? See how the blonde liked being blue-haired for a few weeks?

“It’s nice.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Arthur looked incredulous. Merlin shrugged. “Sure.”

Now _Arthur_ looked frustrated.  

“And why are you asking me about all these engagements anyway?” Merlin asked.

Arthur looked down, suddenly looking sheepish--and rather endearing--he thought.

“Er, I was...I thought...Speaking of proposals,” He cleared his throat, starting over. “Merlin, we’ve known each other for a long time, right?”

“Yes,” Merlin answered hesitantly.

“And you’re not just my...my boyfriend, you’re also my best friend in the world.”

“Really?”

“No, don’t be stupid.” Arthur shot back quickly. They both chuckled at his sarcasm.

“So, erm...what I was going to ask, is--” Arthur got out of his chair, and to Merlin’s astonishment, went on his knees before him, pulling out a red box to reveal a silver ring. “Merlin Emrys, will you marry me?”

Wait.

“Hang on,” said Merlin, and Arthur’s face went completely confused. “Is this another prank?”

“What are you talking about?” Arthur asked.

“This is another prank, isn’t it?” Merlin shook his head, starting to get it. “This is pretty low, Arthur.”

“Merlin,” Arthur said. “I’m serious.”

“No, you’re not.” He was convinced.

“Yes, I am!” Arthur looked incredibly exasperated now. “Why would I lie about this?”

“Because you’re the so-called King of Pranks!” Merlin exclaimed.

“Merlin.” Arthur shook his head. “Merlin, I’m serious. Look at me.”

Merlin, reluctantly, did as he said. To his surprise, Arthur was completely serious--he could see it plain as day in his eyes, in his clenched fists.

“You _are_ serious,” Merlin said in awe.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “That’s what I’ve been telling you, you idiot!”

Merlin suddenly found it hard to get words out, and he could feel himself going red. “Oh. S-so...you want me t-to--”

“To marry me.” Arthur said plainly. “Yes. Merlin Emrys, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Merlin was silent, gaping at him, this man before him who he had been so _sure_ was messing with him just a moment before.

“ _Yes_.” He blurted.

“Yes?” Arthur repeated, a huge grin breaking out across his face. “Yes?”

“Yes!” Merlin reasserted loudly, smiling from ear to ear.

Arthur let out a whoop of celebration, slipping the ring onto his finger, then lifted Merlin up into the air, spinning him around.

“YES!”

They were both laughing, and Merlin felt as though the smile would never leave his face again.

When they finally stopped to take a breath, Merlin pulled back slightly. “You’ve been foiling my pranks all week, haven’t you?”

Arthur raised his eyebrows, and Merlin gasped in realization. “I _knew_ it! You prat, I bloody _knew it_!”

Arthur sighed, but he was still grinning. “Oh, alright, I _have_ been. But honestly, _Mer_ lin,” He let out a hint of exasperation in his voice.  “Your pranks are, well, weak.”

“They are _not_!” Merlin protested. “That Nerf one was a masterpiece, and you ruined it!”

“Seeing you fall on the floor was rather hilarious, I have to admit,” Arthur’s lips curled.

Merlin shook his head, and claimed loudly, “I could have been terribly injured!”

“From foam darts? I honestly doubt that, Merlin.”

“Shut up,” Merlin mumbled, and he pressed his lips to Arthur’s, whose arms wrapped tighter around him.

* * *

 

“You know,” Merlin said softly, pressing his forehead to Arthur’s as they lay in bed that night. “I _will_ get you back for those,”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “ _Please_. In your dreams, perhaps.”

* * *

 

But during the next week, Arthur woke up with salt mixed into his tea every morning, which made his tongue burn.

Merlin forced himself not to kill himself laughing as he watched his dollophead _fiancé_ sprint over to the sink to spit the vile mixture out.

He had absolutely no regrets.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it almost as much as I did writing it!  
> Please feel free to leave comments and reviews below!  
> -M


End file.
